Ex-U.S. Marine Trevor Reed Disappears in Russia Prison System, State Department Demands to Be Told Where He Is
The United States embassy in Moscow is demanding to be told where's the location of ex-U.S. marine Trevor Reed, who was imprisoned in Russia.
Previously dubbed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a drunk and troublemaker, the 29-year-old former U.S. marine reportedly disappeared from Russia's prison system. He was last known to be in a Moscow prison.
U.S. State Department Has No Clue Where Trevor Reed is Being Held
According to Daily Mail, Reed's attorneys informed his family that the former marine from Texas had been moved to a prison camp in Mordovia, some 400 miles southeast of Moscow.
But the U.S State Department noted that they do not have any information on Reed's whereabouts. The State Department added that their requests for access to the prisoner have repeatedly been rejected.
In a tweet, the spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Moscow, Jason Rebholz, said it had been 19 days since Reed's transfer, and the Russian government has yet to inform the embassy of his location, Local News8 reported. Rebholz also demanded that the foreign ministry permits U.S. officials to see Trevor Reed.
The Arrest of Trevor Reed
Trevor Reed was arrested in Russia in August 2019 after attending a party with his girlfriend at her colleagues' home. The former U.S. marine was reportedly drunk and was causing trouble.
Police were then called to take Reed to jail in order to sober up. However, he reportedly assaulted two Russian intelligence agents who came to speak to him. He was then charged for the attack on the agents.
Trevor Reed was then sentenced to nine years jail time in July 2020, almost a year after the incident. U.S. officials found Reed's trial absurd.
They said the police officers were unable to recall the events of the alleged incident and had contradicting statements during a hearing. The U.S. officials called the conviction "ridiculous" and demanded his release.
Ex-U.S. Marine Moved to Prison Camp
Russia's President Vladimir Putin earlier described Trevor Reed as "a drunk and a troublemaker" who "got himself s_ _ _ faced and started a fight."
According to ABC News, Trevor Reed is just one of the two ex-marines that the U.S. claims are being held hostage by Russia. A prison rights monitoring group also said that Reed had been transferred to a prison camp outside Moscow.
In a statement by the Moscow's Public Monitoring Commission of Moscow's official, Alexey Melnikov, he said Reed was indeed in the Mordovia prison camp on Friday.
Reed, alongside ex-Marine, Paul Whelan has been detained in Russia on charges that the U.S. officials claim are made up. The U.S. officials noted that the charges were filed in order to turn Reed and Whelan into bargaining chips.
President Joe Biden had brought up the case of Reed and Whelan when he met Putin during a summit in Switzerland last month. Russia has already named several Russian prisoners in the U.S. that they want to be released.
The names include notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout; and Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot who was imprisoned on charges of drug smuggling. However, the U.S. is still contemplating the exchange due to the severity of the crimes of the Russians.
This article is owned by Latin Post
Written by: Jess Smith
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